Manny Malhotra signs with Canadians

The Montreal Canadians and center Manny Malhotra have agreed to a one-year, $850,000 contract.

The signing was the first after free agency opened at noon ET.

Malhotra signed with the Canadians after playing last season with the Carolina Hurricanes, where he won 59.4 percent of his face-offs and played 1:38 of shorthanded time per games, according to CBC.

Malhotra told Toronto Sports Net that there were many teams interested, but after talking with Canadians general manager Marc Bergevin and head coach Michel Therrien, he knew that Montreal was the place he wanted to be.

In 2011, a deflected puck hit Malhotra in the left eye and sent him down to the ice. He did return in the Stanley Cup Finals and he played six of the seven games, according to TSN.

Malhotra was the seventh overall player-drafted player in 1998 by the New York Rangers. He has played for six teams in his career and has 291 career points in 933 games, but he is known more for his face-off and defensive skills, according to the NHL.